Get the Athlon Sports Newsletter

Thanks to the Heisman Trust, media folks and other voters had to wait until the day after the ceremony to reveal their ballots.

Not that it added to any of the suspense Saturday night: Jameis Winston’s coronation as the Heisman winner has been clear for weeks. Baylor’s Bryce Petty and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota played themselves out of serious contention. The running back trio of Auburn’s Tre Mason, Boston College’s Andre Williams and Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey played themselves onto ballots in the final weeks.

All of that, and an investigation into a sexual battery allegation that yielded no charges, did not hinder Winston’s Heisman campaign. The Florida State quarterback turned in one of the most lopsided Heisman wins in the award's history. Winston had the seventh-largest margin of victory and ninth-most first-place votes, according to Chris Huston of HeismanPundit.com.

While the Heisman ceremony gave us little drama, we did learn a bit beyond Winston’s win.

Three Things We Learned from the 2013 Heisman Voting

Forget preseason Heisman lists. Midseason Heisman lists are meaningless, too. The 2014 Heisman watch has already begun, but the last four years should teach us not to give such lists much credence. Athlon isn’t exempt. Our preseason magazine will have a Heisman watch, of course. The Heisman watch is a fun discussion, and that’s about it. Of the last four Heisman winners, only Baylor’s Robert Griffin III even played the season before. Winston’s win gives us two redshirt freshmen and a junior college transfer to win the Heisman in the last four years. Preseason favorites AJ McCarron (second), Jordan Lynch (third), Johnny Manziel (fifth) and Braxton Miller (ninth) all made appearances, but the rest of the field was nowhere to be found on a list in August or September. Sixth-place finisher Tre Mason from Auburn hadn't even built enough clout to be a Doak Walker finalist before a 304-yard performance in the SEC championship game. That alone put him 277 points ahead of Bryce Petty, who was on everyone’s short list in October. Even Boston College’s Andre Williams used a monster November to finish ahead of defending winner Johnny Manziel. In future seasons, it wouldn't be inconceivable for a contender to appear on the scene and win the award in a span of two or three games in November.

Regional biases are still a big deal. Jameis Winston won every region by a significant margin, but the voters were provincial in picking the second and third spots on their ballots. Only the Far West didn’t show a regional bias with Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey finishing sixth. Elsewhere, the voters favored candidates in their backyard. Jordan Lynch was second in the Midwest. Johnny Manziel west second in the Southwest. Andre Williams was second in the Northeast. The Mid-Atlantic had AJ McCarron second, but ACC country also had Williams third. In the South, McCarron, Tre Mason and Johnny Manziel all lined up behind Winston.

Playing in front of a captive audience matters. On the surface, the Heisman resumes for Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch and Fresno State’s Derek Carr weren’t all that different. Both contenders had eye-popping statistics — Lynch’s 1,881 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns, Carr’s 4,866 passing yards and 48 touchdowns. Both lost their chance at BCS games late in the season. And both came into the season with notable fanfare. So how did Lynch finish third and Carr finish eighth? Lynch’s last four games were all primetime ESPN2 broadcasts on a Tuesday, two Wednesdays and a Friday. Lynch’s previous five games were only televised locally. Meanwhile, Fresno State had four kickoffs after 10 p.m. Eastern, all on Saturdays, in the final six games. Carr led his team to a Mountain West title on a game featured on CBS ... in a game that ended well after midnight Eastern. Lynch’s exposure late in the season in wins over Ball State, Toledo and Western Michigan, vaulted the NIU quarterback to third in the voting.

College Football For the moment college football has forgotten about college football in a mad dash forward to appease a small group of the viewing public and more importantly to make television advertisers happy....

College Football, Fantasy As we turn our calendars over to August, the college fantasy football season is kicking into high gear. Are you prepared? Athlon has teamed up with college fantasy veterans...

College Football, Overtime Michigan State is always among the elite in college football and this year shouldn't be any different. Adam Schultz created an awesome hype video for the Spartans and if it's any...

College Football, Overtime Some people dread the weight room. Tennessee football players can't wait to go. The Volunteers made their "Night Lift" look like the 40/40 Club, completely with a DJ and neon...

College Football The Jordan Stevenson sweepstakes ended on Thursday when the former South Oak Cliff (Texas) High School running back was academically cleared to enroll at Nebraska. The recruiting win for...

College Football, Overtime Who says fans of rival teams can't make it work? Ohio State and Michigan are now bonded for life in some sort. Stephanie and Mike Stout took their wedding photos in the famous tunnel...

College Football, News The one-game suspension of four potential starters for Ohio State has slightly altered the outlook for the opener against Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes won’t need any reminder about how...

College Football Heading into the 2014 season, speculation about what life after AJ McCarron would bring for Alabama lingered around Tuscaloosa and the SEC like early-morning humidity in the South. While All-...

College Football With a 6-7 record last season, the Miami Hurricanes have more than a few things to work on during fall camp in August. Here is a look at five of the biggest and how Al Golden's team can...

College Football There have been 78 Heisman Trophies given out to 77 different players and only three times has the award gone to an ACC representative. On each of those occasions, a Florida State quarterback was...

NFL, News NFL training camps are opening up all across the nation, signaling the official return of pro football. Athlon Sports is going division by division, asking and (trying to) answering the biggest...

NFL, News The Pittsburgh Steelers are an enigma entering the 2015 NFL season. They would appear to be a team on the rise after an 11-5 regular season record and winning the toughest division in the league....

College Football Ohio State announced today that four key players would miss the Sept. 7 season opener against Virginia Tech. While it’s a big enough news story in and of itself, especially since one of the...

College Football On Thursday the Tennessee Volunteers landed running back Carlin Fils-Aime in a big head-to-head recruiting battle that included North Carolina, Miami, Auburn, and Georgia down the stretch. The...

College Football, News Ohio State will begin its national title defense without a couple of key players. According to a release from the school, defensive end Joey Bosa and receivers Corey Smith, Dontre Wilson and Jalin...

College Football, Overtime Ohio State's band is hot water following a report of a songbook making fun of Holocaust victims. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a book by the famous band includes a...

College Football Arizona State is now part of the adidas family. adidas is now the official partner of the Pac-12 and the Sun Devils are the beneficiaries of some pretty sweet new uniforms. Their partnership...